Chris Lombardi puts defense and security under the spotlight, as he shares his takes on recent NATO and EU cooperation and provides insight into the company’s own long-term strategic partnerships in Europe.

Three trends are currently driving the global electricity sector: decarbonization, decentralization and differentiation. Utilities are making significant contributions to mitigate carbon emissions, while a technology revolution is …

Why a good tyre can prove a winner

No car could run without them, but tyres get about as much attention from buyers and sellers as the novelty air fresheners tied to windscreens across Europe.

European Voice

3/7/06, 5:00 PM CET

But like every part of the vehicles we drive, tyres have to meet a cluster of standards agreed by the EU.

Safety is top of the list for many tyre manufacturers to worry about this year, with the European Commission transport safety review just out and pressure for legislation from lobbyists.

Tyres are also supposed to be recycled when a car is scrapped, as part of the end-of-life vehicles (ELV) directive.

And the use of common but potentially carcinogenic oils – polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) – is now limited in tyres by a law agreed by governments and MEPs last summer. Environmentalists said this was a step in the right direction.

But Pierre Menendes of tyre manufacturers Michelin points out that, unknown to many drivers, tyres also have a significant impact on vehicle fuel consumption. In fact, the need for a moving car to fight against the “rolling resistance” of its tyres is estimated to use up 20% of the fuel in a car tank.

Rolling resistance describes the effort needed for a car to turn its wheels and move forward, once weight, gravity, aerodynamics and design have been allowed for.

It cannot be sacrificed altogether without making tyres totally unsafe and very short-lived. Some manufacturers nowadays have, however, managed to boost the environmental credentials of tyres without creating a safety problem, in part by using special rubber compounds.

Menendes said Michelin put its own “green tyre” on the market in 1992, since when the company has sold 400 million. Three-quarters of Michelin tyres sold today are green.

Michelin estimates that if all EU vehicles used environmentally friendly tyres of the green tyre standard, six billion litres of gas would be saved every year. “That equates to the amount of carbon dioxide absorbed by 600 million trees,” explained Menendes.

He added that drivers using green tyres could save on their fuel bills: “Using four of the latest Michelin green tyres,” he estimated, “a driver would save the cost of two of those tyres by the end of their lifespan [45,000 km on average in the EU].”

Menendes said Michelin was in talks with the Commission to find a way of telling consumers about the effect different tyres have on CO2 consumption.

“We are working with the car industry, we need to make sure car manufacturers and opinion leaders and especially consumers are all aware of what is at stake,” he said.

Michelin argues that EU drivers could be putting their lives at risk, as well as wasting fuel and wearing tyres out, by driving with tyres that are not properly inflated.

Voluntary vehicle spot checks by Michelin in Europe over recent years found that on 60% of cars at least one tyre was under-inflated – dangerously so in a third of cases.

“We believe it comes from the fact that roads and cars are now better, and so consumers tend to forget about tyres,” suggested Menendes.